the sorrows of his soul, they were the more immediate instruments and executioners, for they were particularly represented to him, and ran every one with their bodkins and pierced him through; he was beset, as being encompassed about with them, and pierced through and through by every of them; there is not a sin of them but had a stab, and his soul had a stab for it; and in that relation thou mayest mourn over thy sin and his soul and body, and mayest go forth and view every part upon the cross-his hands nailed, his side pierced, his back whipped, and look through his side into his heart, and see it in agonies and horror, and all for these sins of mine,* yea, and caused by these sins, which will make thy heart sweat blood, as his body did, if thou hast any love to him. But above all, thou art to consider his love in all, that is it which above all is to work in this mourning upon thy view of his being crucified. His love was stronger than death; death could not keep him in the grave, but his love kept him on the cross for thee when he was provoked to come down. His pains were great, but his love more; thy sin, and his love in all this, to endure all this for thy sin, this is it must move thee. I will say but this to you: if any of you believers, that have love in your hearts to Christ, had been alive then, and had known from Christ afore that all his sufferings to come had been for your sins, and to save you for them, and your heart had followed him to the cross full of such apprehensions, and you, as John and his mother, had stood by and viewed all that really passed then, and had still had this thought -all this is for me, out of love to me and my sins; I like a sheep have gone astray, and God now lays on him all my sins-and then had gone over in your thoughts all your sins, how would your hearts have been broken and melted! Now, by faith you may view him in this narration, and in the sacraments, as really as if you had been by; so Paul says, Gal. iii. 1, 2. Therefore, get your hearts to melt and break over this crucifix, and put your sins and his love into one cup and drink them off, and see how this potion will work. To bring the murderer to a dead man makes the dead man bleed afresh; but bring thy sins to Christ, and it will make thy heart to bleed afresh.

Use 16. Work your hearts to a hatred of sin upon these considerations also. If a man had killed your friend, or father, or mother, how would you hate him! You would not endure the sight of him, but follow the law upon him (as in the old law they did if they fled not to the city of refuge). Send out the avenger of blood with a hue and cry after thy sin; bring it afore God's judgment-seat, arraign it, accuse it, spit on it, condemn it and thyself for it, have it to the cross, nail it there, if it cry I thirst, give it vinegar, stretch the body of sins upon his cross, stretch every vein of it, make the heart-strings crack; and then when it hangs there, triumph over the dying of it, shew it no pity, laugh at its destruction, say, Thou hast been a bloody sin to me and my husband, hang there and rot. And when thou art tempted to it, and art very thirsty after the pleasure of it, say of that opportunity to enjoy it, as David said of the water of Bethlehem, It is the price of Christ's blood, and pour it upon the ground. Mere ingenuity should move us; say with thyself,

1. If no more but the conformity between Christ and me, shall I live in that to which I died when my head died? thus Paul, Rom. vi.

2. Shall I live upon that which was Christ's death? Shall I please myself in that which was his pain? Shall I be so dishonest, so unkind, as to enjoy the pleasure for which he endured the smart? Shall I spend on

* Qu.thine '?-ED.

his score, the score of his love? King's children, when others are beaten for them, it moves them to be as diligent and fearful to offend as if themselves were to be beaten, out of ingenuity; and that Christ was whipped for us and our sins, should move us as much against them as if ourselves were every day to be crucified as he was. I only put this to all your considerations that love the Lord Jesus, if Christ were yet to suffer at the end of the world, and in suffering to bear all the sins you should commit (as you heard when he suffered he did), if you had any ingenuity, how wary would you be how you increased his load, how sorry that you added any sin, knowing it would be his sorrow; and shall he fare the worse because all is done already?

CHAPTER XV.

The victory which Christ gained over Satan by his death.-The glory of this victory displayed by the consideration of the greatness of that power which the devil had over us.

That through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil.-HEB. ii. 14.

The victory, yea, destruction which Christ hath upon Satan on our behalf, is the full scope of this text, and follows as the next subject unto that of redemption of us from sin and the curse, and is indeed the consequent of that redemption.

There is no text large enough to take in the whole, either of Satan's power or of Christ's destroying him in respect of that his power, for this mentions on Satan's part his power over death only as the jailor; and on Christ's part, his overcoming him by his death is only spoken of, whereas Satan hath power, and that chiefly in matter of sin, also, in ruling this world; and Christ also destroys or confounds him by his ascension, intercession, and judging both the devils and the world at last. Yet you well may upon occasion of these take in all, and it may have this warrant from this text, that it is said to be a destruction of him (which is a general word and takes in all), that is, of his person wholly and totally; and so in all points of his power besides, as well as in that over death.

And again, Christ's death here meritoriously and virtually reached to all the power Satan had of any kind; and so, then, a total rout and destruction of him is in the apostle's scope.

And the story hereof, as gathered from the Scriptures, is our present subject, and is divided, as the text is, into two parts.

1. Satan's power.

2. Christ's victory and destruction of him.

1. Concerning Satan's power, therein two things are to be considered: (1.) What power Satan hath had in the world, and over the elect sons of men, fallen under sin in common with other men.

(2.) By what claim or right he came by it.

2. Concerning the second, Christ's victory, and his destroying him, therein are to be remarked,

(1.) The true original ground of the quarrel, how Christ came to be engaged and involved against him.

(2.) The several degrees of Christ's conquests; and they are reduced to two heads:

[1.] The first rout, wherein the foundation was laid of the ensuing victories, and that was got in open battle in the plain field at his death, in and by which virtually the whole was at once won and obtained; and therein I shall shew how justly Satan fell from his power, and lost it: and this I call Christ's meritorious victory.

[2.] Then there is, secondly, the prosecution of this first victory, and the management thereof to his own greatest glory and Satan's confusion. And the parts thereof are,

First; Christ's triumphing over him after the victory obtained in his own person openly, and that in Satan's own dominions, afore God and all the holy angels, and this singly in himself, and in his own person, although as representing us, Col. ii. 15; and this I term his victorious triumph, or the show and demonstration of it.

Secondly; there is his overcoming him in us, then when Satan is still left in actual possession of the whole world, and of the elect among them, whose liberty and redemption it was Christ aimed at. And this hath two degrees:

First; he overcomes him in us at our conversion; and,

Secondly; he overcomes him by us, and causeth every particular Christian to overcome him in the course of their lives, after conversion. And these two I term Christ's actual prevailing, or getting possession.

Thirdly; a third procedure is Christ his visible setting up a kingdom in this world afore the day of judgment, during which time Satan is shut up, and restrained from tempting the elect, and from deceiving and enraging the world against the elect, as now he yet doth, and heretofore hath done. And this is expressed in the last chapters of the Revelations, chap. xix. ver. 19-21. And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies, gathered together to make war against him that sat on the horse, and against his army. And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.' After which follows chap. xx. 1-3, And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold of the dragon, that old serpent, which is the devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled and after that he must be loosed a little season.' And then follows the kingdom of the saints during those thousand years; ver. 4, 5, And I saw thrones, and they that sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again, until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection.'

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Fourthly; lastly, there is Christ his bringing this great malignant unto open trial afore all the world; God, angels, and men; which is at the day of judgment. After which follows the execution of him, in an eternal destruction of him in hell.

There is a glory transcendent that will appear in each one of these particulars, but more in the whole of them all laid together; a stupendously excelling glory, in comparison unto which victories of Christ, all the great victories you have seen are but trifles and shadows, that have no glory in this respect, and therefore let not the rich man glory in his riches, nor the strong man in his conquests, but let him that glorieth, glory in the Lord; and in this especially, that he knows himself is one of those poor captives whom this great conqueror delivered, amongst the rest of the elect who shall stand up in his lot amongst them.

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I. To discourse concerning Satan and his power, and to shew what it is. In general, it is a kingdom maintained and upheld by him and all his angels conspiring in one, against Christ and his saints: Mat. xii. 26, ' And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how then shall his kingdom stand ?' And whereas every kingdom hath an interest, the interest of this is sin; Eph. vi. 12, they are said to be rulers of the darkness of this world, which is spoken in distinction from the good angels, who are rulers of this world too; for in that the apostle says, this world to come is not subject to the angels,' Heb. ii. (he speaks of them that are good); he implies that now they are sent out for the good of the elect, Heb. i. 14; and it argues that this world is subject to them, in order to the good of the elect. But now herein lies the difference: Satan is the ruler of the darkness of this world, and the riches, glory, and greatness of it being for the most part obtained and managed by sin and corruption, therefore in ruling the darkness that is in men's hearts, he also comes to rule and dispose of these. Even as the pope's power (who is his eldest son) is in pretence only ad spiritualia, yet so as in ordine ad spiritualia, he takes on him to meddle in all things temporal; so his father Satan, having now in commission only spiritual darkness and wickedness, and obtaining this power over men unregenerate, yet in order thereunto over these children here, until converted.

These of all other things are committed to him.

1. To entice, as he did Ahab, 1 Kings xxii. 21.

2. To put into the heart, as in Judas.

3. To provoke, 1 Chron. xxi. 1.

4. To bewitch, Gal. iii. 1.

5. To fill the heart, as he did the heart of Ananias, Acts v. 3.

6. To work effectually, and so as to carry all before him, and cause them to do what he enticeth to, Eph. ii. 2.

7. And, seventhly, to do all this at his will, 2 Tim. ii. 26.

This power of Satan is in respect of sin, or the darkness of this world. He hath a power over them in respect of death; so in the text; but this power lasts but till the resurrection, and but over men's souls. For when the day of judgment is ended, it is the good angels that do throw wicked men to hell, and not the evil angels, Mat. xiii. 41, 42. But in the meantime look, as the good angels have the commission for carrying men's souls to paradise, as they did Lazarus his, Luke xvi. 22, so the evil angels have until then the commission to carry wicked souls, when by death severed from their bodies, to hell.

Let us now consider (to set forth Christ's victory the more) the greatness and the extent of this kingdom given to the devil and his angels.

I. As it is in the hands of the great devil placed on his throne, it is a monarchy over mankind, of all forms, highest for power in all ranks throughout.

II. For the subject of it, they are (as Christ's subjects also are, Col. i. 16) both things visible and invisible; so that he hath of both kinds, especially the kinds of intelligent natures, subject to him.

1. Angels: The devil and his angels.' 2. Us men, wholly captived to him. And further (wherein the upholdance of this great tyrant's cause is), some of these are as natural native subjects that rule with him, and have a common interest of power with him. And they are his angels; but we poor silly men are as slaves captived to them and him. Like as Pharaoh (one of his eldest sons under the Old Testament) had for his natural liege subjects his Egyptians, that ruled over the Israelites with him, and the poor Israelites as captives and slaves unto both. And in this lieth the greatness of the Turkish dominion in part of Europe, Asia, and of the Mogul in East India, to this day. So then he hath all sorts of subjects every

way.

3. As unto us men, his power is universal, not a soul of us but is by nature subject to him. We are all born by a statute law his slaves; and Christ hath none but whom he wins over from him, by turning them from Satan unto God, yea, and in the issue he holds and retains a far greater company and number to himself than Christ gets unto himself, Rev. xii. 9. It is one part of Satan's titles, that it is he who deceives the whole world. 4. In us men (the more miserable part of his subjects) he rules inwardly, even as Christ doth in those few he gets from him he sits and fills and rules our hearts, till we are turned to God.

5. If we consider the length and continuance of this his dominion, as he hath sinned from the beginning, 1 John iii. 8; so he hath entered upon his reign from the very beginning of man's fall, and every man born becomes his subject; neither have these individual devils given place to any, but the same devil that ruled in Cain's time rules now in the children of disobedience, Eph. ii. 2.

6. For success, he hath carried it clear; for he works, and works effectually, in the children of disobedience, and takes them captives at his will, as he lists, 2 Tim. ii. 26.

7. He hath been worshipped as a god, and so hath had more honour and dignity than any prince, 2 Cor. iv. 4. He is there called, the god of this world.' Some great conquerors affected to be worshipped as gods, not being content with the highest supreme power; so Alexander and Mahomet; but few obtained it, but the devil hath had both. So it was from the flood, till heathenism was destroyed, and popish idolatry was set up, as it is said, Rev. xiii. 14. Thus therein they worshipped the dragon, who gave his power to the beast, to the end to have worship continued to him in another way under the profession of Christ, even as he had afore. Thus much for the power itself.

II. Secondly, The second part to be discoursed of is, by what claim, right, or title he came to have this power, seeing himself by sinning (afore man had sinned) deserved to be in the nethermost hell.

1. The legal and fundamental claim is God's commission, and that by way of curse upon man. Man turning rebel against God, he justly gave that ungrateful creature, who despised his mild government, over unto the hard and intolerable vassalage of his tyrant. It was a just punishment, that man, who would not have God to rule over him, should be delivered into the devil's power, and it was as great a punishment as could be inflicted. Thus we find, that when David, by way of prophecy, was to curse Judas (who himself was placed in the office of an apostle, or bishop, or overseer,